Chapter 3
Satsuki couldn't help but laugh when she thought about it, looking back. It had taken several weeks of being toyed with and 'tortured' for her to come to terms with the implications of her mother's revelation on the day her rebellion failed. While discovering that Ryuko was her long lost sister hadn't been funny in any sense, she had found some humour in it, a result of the cynicism she developed after having to deal with her twisted mother. Ever since her father had revealed the truth about the life fibers, about COVERS and about the death of her baby sister who had never been given a name, Satsuki had chosen to devote her life to revenge. She remembered losing her smile that day; something which Jakuzure was driven to regain out of friendship and loyalty in their childhood years.
For all of Nonon's efforts and loyalty, it was only until the mysterious transfer student entered her life that Satsuki's cold mask had chipped ever so slightly. She could remember it clearly when Ryuko had synchronised with Senketsu for the first time, when they had used her scissor blade's Decapitation Mode for the first time, when she let out a true smile. As she had leant back to evade Ryuko's strike, she had let out a smile, something which had lasted to the end of their fight. Satsuki was happy, certainly not because her opponent was nice, reasonable or cooperative but because she was strong and able to hold her own against an overwhelming adversary. Ryuko had been a knight in shining armour to her, dressed in a black which polarised her own in white. She was a reflection of her true feelings that freely and openly opposed the preaching of her undercover guise.
Despite her feelings towards Ryuko, the bothersome grief she gave her as she rampaged through the school time and time again never led Satsuki to imagine that she was her younger sister. While her father had told her about having a baby sister, she had never known what she would have looked like. As a child, Satsuki had occasionally imagined what her sister would have looked like and how she would have acted if she were alive, to subvert the loneliness that she felt. With the mind of a child, she had always imagined them getting along, talking and having fun with her being the dependable older sister. Her wild imagination had become her refuge, her skyscraper that she had built inside of her mind. In the end, it had turned out that her younger sister she had always dreamed of having was right under her nose all along.
As happy as Satsuki could have been at her mother's revelation, she had begun to feel slightly disheartened after she had helped Ryuko come to her senses on the Naked Soul. Even though she had been reunited with her long lost sibling, the crushing reality had set in. She wasn't the sister Satsuki had dreamed about when she was young, she was her own person. Ryuko had grown up alone, raised herself and it wasn't a surprise that she would hate her, especially after treating her like a pawn. Satsuki wondered if Ryuko had thought the same as her, that if she felt like their destined fate was some kind of bad joke as well. There was no way that they could become close like she had always wanted, even more so now that she was trying killing her.
Ever since she thought that she was about to die, she had been watching entire time. When the light burst forth from her body, she no longer felt like she had control of her body. She had felt the sensation of being stabbed, of the burning in her throat as she coughed up blood, of being stabbed two more times but the feeling of her consciousness slipping away never came. Something had happened to her body without her knowing. All Satsuki could do was watch as the life fibers that had attacked vapourised into thin air from the light before doubling over in pain as she absorbed Junketsu. Again, it had felt like she was trapped in a cage, only capable to watching helplessly. As she watched herself continue to mercilessly pummel her sister, Satsuki felt her resolve quickly diminish as hit after brutal hit landed. The indomitable will that she possessed did nothing to help her regain control of her body. Regardless of her mental commands and her desire to stop, her body kept moving without relent as it went for the kill. Satsuki knew she had been cold, relentless, even cruel in the past; but not like this. As her sister's face became more bloodied and bruised, she couldn't help but focus her mind's eye elsewhere, not wanting to watch any further her own inadvertent cruelty any longer. Mentally distraught and on the verge of despair Satsuki heard her name.
"Wake up...Kiryuin Satsuki!"
As she focused her mind's eye to the call of her name, Satsuki suddenly felt the jarring, aching pain of her younger sister's punch. If it were possible for her to express her emotions, she would have smiled. The sensation of pain that ran through wracked her face was the first thing she could feel since her mental imprisonment. As much as it hurt, the pain was a sign of life; of some form of connection with her body. As the pain slowly began to fade, Satsuki had only just noticed that she had remained standing in the deadlocked position uneventfully. Within the moments she had let her mind wander in curiosity about the short pause in her fight; her body began to move as she found her left arm jerk backwards with phenomenal strength.
Satsuki's was sent mentally reeling, frenetic from the sudden loss of whatever semblance of connection she had with her body. Doubling back, she tried to refocus on the pain, on Ryuko's punch, on how she could fight back so that they could both get out of this predicament alive. Cycling through those thoughts again and again, as minute as the sensation was, she felt her finger twitch. With little time to think, she imagined flailing her left arm about in a wild motion in a primitive attempt to waste the force and energy of her body's sudden movement. The result had brought Ryuko off balance and into a dancer's twirl before bringing her into an awkward choke using her own arm.
As Satsuki felt the smaller girl tuck her chin in on time, she felt a small bit of relief. While forcing Ryuko into a choke hold wasn't what she had intended to do, it was a better than the other alternatives. The choke hold she had put her in was far from perfect. It was flimsy and insecure, forced her involuntary body to brace Ryuko's with her right arm, bringing the fight into a game of patience and submission. Even though Satsuki knew she wasn't consciously controlling her body, she couldn't help but a little embarrassed from the closeness the two girls were currently sharing. Whenever she and Ryuko had touched each other, it was always with fists and kicks. It felt strange being so intimately close, for a submission hold at least.
For a second, Satsuki felt like blood was rushing to her cheeks. At that moment, Ryuko had chosen to try and break free, a decoy movement leading to a crude blow which had landed against her throat. The head butt was weak but against such a soft target, it had sent a clear and powerful sense of agitation throughout her mind. Feeling grounded with the sensation of pain in her throat, Satsuki coaxed her body to abate the desire to strangle Ryuko, opting to throw her off. After grabbing her opponent and breaking into a spin, she felt the connection to her body sever, allowing her body to slam the poor, already beaten girl into the ground at breakneck speed.
Satsuki cursed the misshapen timing. She saw clearly the damage she inflicted onto Ryuko as she bounced off the floor, dealing a severe blow of her determination. Despite her internal struggling to regain control of her body, she couldn't regain the inkling sensations that allowed her to coarse adjust her body's movements. Pain had allowed her some degree of control but it was only temporary. In a rare instance, Satsuki gave into the frustration of her situation. She wanted to vent, she needed to punch something. With an internal cry of frustration, she felt her body wind itself back before releasing a slow, full powered punch that landed squarely against her sister's guard. It was only then that a solution occurred to her, inciting an internal laugh.
Steeling her resolve once more, Satsuki began to focus on the fight and on her survival. The solution to the problem was counter intuitive but she had expected as much from being in such a vexing situation. Surrendering herself to the survival instincts that had seemingly taken over her was the key to manipulating her body; she had to want to fight, she had to survive. As long as Satsuki wanted to strike harder and quickly react to pain to survive, she would gain some control over her body. By conforming to the flow of her body, she soon found herself able influence her attacks with greater consistency. Given her martial prowess, she knew the best way to manipulate her own movements to ensure Ryuko could escape and possibly fight back.
Changing her style, Satsuki fought with wide but strong movements. Her new slew of punches and kicks were now abundant in power by sacrificing the finesse they once had. No longer quick and precise, her new movements were now heavily telegraphed, easy to be read and countered by a calm opponent. As her new onslaught continued though, it became clear that her opponent was far from calm as she broke into a full retreat. It wasn't long until Satsuki saw her sister trip pathetically on nearby rubble. Looming over her, she could see Ryuko's eyes well up with tears as she rolled over to lie on her back. She had heard everything Ryuko had said since her latest pursuit began, from the bitter replies to Senketsu to the feelings she felt towards her.
"Even though she's like this, how could I possibly think of killing her? How could I, when I want her to live so much!"
Although she towered over her sister's small body menacingly, the image of seeing her little sister beaten, on the verge of tears and trying her hardest to muffle the soft sobs escaping her lip had crushed Satsuki. The resolve, and whatever hopeful confidence she once had left, disappeared. Seeing Ryuko like this, after hearing everything she had said, had destroyed her mental desire to fight. Satsuki couldn't describe the feelings that were welling up inside her. All she knew was that she wanted to hold Ryuko, to ease her pain, to comfort her, to be with her, to not be separated from her, to tell her that everything will be okay.
"Ryuko...Ryuko...hear me...please," Satsuki called out from her mental prison. Sadness gripped her at the realisation of her body refusing the commands issued from her mind. Watching her body move to bring down the final blow, Satsuki finally came to understand what she was feeling; heartbreak. She could feel the pain in her chest, radiating to the two recently closed wounds in her stomach from knowing what she had to do.
"She has to survive...Ryuko has to survive!" were the only thoughts that ran through the older girl's mind as her fist finally made contact. The stinging paining from punching solid rock registered quickly registered in Satsuki's mind, grounding her to her own body once again, allowing some degree of self-control.
"Ryuko..." Satsuki managed to utter out as she moved to make eye contact with the girl underneath her. Wearing a forlorn expression, she continued, "End it... Kill...me..."
Ryuko could only respond in shock, "Sa...Satsuki?"
"Scissor...blade..."
Still half stunned, Ryuko turned her head to her right, mirroring her older sister's movements. When she saw her red scissor blade within arm's reach, she almost couldn't believe it. Thinking back retrospectively, it slowly dawned on her of what had really happened.
"I'm sorry Satsuki...You've been fighting all this time haven't you?" spoke Ryuko softly as she turned back to face Satsuki. Seeing her sister struggle to make a slight nod made the pinned girl cringe in guilt, realising that her older girl had led her to the scissor blade somehow. Ryuko cursed herself, at her weak resolve, for fighting half heartedly.
"Go..."
Hearing the older girl's voice, Ryuko delivered a quick kick to Satsuki's mid-section, knocking her off balance as she dived towards her blade. With her mouth around the tag on her left gauntlet, she clenched her teeth to dislodge the tab. Re-entering life fiber synchronisation mode with Senketsu, Ryuko seamlessly transitioned from her dive into a roll, clasping the handle of her regained weapon, before recovering into a defensive stance with her blade in front of her. As Senketsu looked up, he saw that while the redness in his partner's face remained, the dampness that was present before had all but disappeared; leaving her with a sharp, focused gaze.
"Ryuko…before, I-"
"Forget about it Senketsu. You were right," said Ryuko, cutting off the black Kamui's apology. "I really was fighting half-assed. The entire time, I was moping around like some weakling while Satsuki was doing everything she could to fight whatever's taken a hold of her. Heh, if she could talk, I bet I'd never hear the end of it..."
"Will you be alright Ryuko? With how this will end?"
"It's too late for worry about anything. Satsuki's doing everything she can to keep me alive. If I don't fight...if I don't end it, it'd all have been for nothing," Ryuko replied solemnly, reinforcing her guard. "There's nothing left to do but fight. I'm done feeling guilty."
Losing herself in concentration, Ryuko kept her gaze on Satsuki, patiently watching for the slightest of movements. As the white clad girl stood up, her melded Kamui began to form blades and claws around both of her hands. Without a pause, Satsuki charged towards her target as she drew her right arm back in preparation for a wide, arcing swipe.
"See it Ryuko!" Satsuki screamed from within her mental cage. Her plea was answered as she saw Ryuko swing her scissor blade without hesitation. The red blade clashed against her blue claw with a clean, strong stroke that wrenched her arm backwards, sending her off balance once more. Pain surged through Satsuki's mind as she felt her arm on the brink of being torn off from her shoulders. Without delay, Ryuko took advantage of her sister's loss of balance and took a side step to position herself behind her opponent. Opting to play it safe and widen the distance between them for now, the flanking girl delivered a fast kick, driving her heel into the base of Satsuki's spine.
The sensation of the blunt heel had done little but stagger the larger girl slightly, betraying the profound effect on her semi-sealed sense of consciousness. Inside, Satsuki was reeling from the sharp spike of pain that seemed to drain the will that kept her aware of what her body was doing. Ignoring the effects of the pain she felt, she altered her movements again. The next attack that came Ryuko's way was telegraphed with wide movements again, allowing for a relatively easy parry. As strike after strike came, the small girl quickly ascertained the rhythm of her sister's strikes. The tempo of the strikes was low with wasteful bodily movements that made each subsequent strike more draining. Keeping her calm, Ryuko kept parrying and evading attacks, throwing the occasional counter between intervals to reset the pace and sap Satsuki's strength further.
"Ryuko, we have to strike now," urged Senketsu.
"Not yet," replied the girl coldly.
Finally hearing laboured breaths from her opponent, signalling the time to counter, Ryuko took a deep breath to calm her nerves. With Satsuki's next left hook easily readable, she crouched low and took a small lunge forward. Scissor blade in hand, the short haired girl thrust her arms outwards, driving the blade through the older girl's stomach. As Senketsu closed his eye to pay his respects to the older girl's sacrifice, Ryuko bit her quivering lip, having heard the sound of thick droplets hitting the floor. Time seemed to stop for everyone. As several more moments passed, the black Kamui began to feel something strange from the uncomfortable silence. Upon opening his eye, it immediately widened in shock.
"Ryuko! Move!"
Ryuko could only flinch as she heard the warning from Senketsu too late. The girl let out an agonising cry as she felt a sharp, searing pain as Satsuki's Senjin-like claws buried themselves deep into her shoulder. Driven by the immediate danger present, Ryuko gripped her red scissor blade with her able hand and quickly planted her foot against her attacker's body. Pushing hard with her leg, she drove her heel into Satsuki, just above the stuck blade. Grunting in pain, she felt the embedded claw tear through more of her arm as it exited her body. Bearing the pain, Ryuko finally freed herself, her weapon in tow, before breaking into a fast retreat.
Satsuki's body breathed heaved with a heavy rhythm, recovering from the two strikes it had sustained. Despite being unable to look down she could feel her sword wound being to close, albeit slowly but still defying the unique ability of the scissor blade. Even though her body began to heal itself, the pain from Ryuko's last kick remained. Ever since their brief 'conversation,' the pain began to vex her. As she watched her body sprint to chase after Ryuko, Satsuki used the brief moment to think back. The kick to her back, the blow against her throat, the strike that landed on top of her just above her recent stab wound, the aching feeling she had in her chest before; they were connected somehow. The pain she felt at those times was different, unlike the other times when she was punched or stabbed. The pain she felt then reached deep inside her mind, grounding her to her body more than any other strikes but above all else, it endured. Satsuki cut her thoughts short when she realised that she had caught up to Ryuko.
"Dammit! What the hell happened back there?" asked Ryuko out loud to Senketsu, caught on the back foot from another savage swipe from her opponent. "Satsuki should be dead, shouldn't she? No normal human should be able to survive that."
"She shouldn't have. The wound was…" Senketsu trailed off into a pause. Quickly scanning Satsuki, he witnessed the recent wound she had received close fully as her skin stitched itself together. "Lethal…" the Kamui finished, sounding uneasy.
"Huh? What is it?" Ryuko asked, sounding little calmer now that her shoulder had slowly begun to heal. "Did you figure something out?"
"I can't say for sure how it happened, but-"
"What're you thinking Senketsu? Don't sweat the small stuff and just tell me already," interrupted Ryuko as she winced as nicks and cuts began to slip their way through her one-armed guard.
"Satsuki may have fused with Junketsu," said the living cloth with a heavy, yet unsure tone. "Just now, I saw the way her wound stitched itself back up. With Junketsu melting into her body, it must be the only explanation."
Ryuko focused herself on the fight, having been rendered speechless from her partner's explanation. "You have gotta be joking. First Ragyo, then me and now her?"
"I'm afraid I'm not."
"Fine, we'll leave those questions to later. Any idea how to stop Satsuki?"
"With Ragy-"
"No," was Ryuko's quick reply. "I refuse! Satsuki's not gonna die like that bitch!"
"Ryuko, this isn't the time to be irration-" Senketsu began before cutting himself off. "No, you're right. It wouldn't have worked."
"What do you mean?"
"The stab wound you gave Satsuki earlier actually began to heal over the blade. Not even Ragyo or Nui's bodies showed that level of regeneration when in contact with the scissor blade."
"So you're saying she's fused with the life fibers like me but she's somehow different?" questioned Ryuko in between evasive sidesteps and parries. Fewer attacks made it through her defence as her shoulder began to heal.
"Your body was infused with life fibers. While they are the same base constituents, Kamui's and Goku uniforms are artificially made. Merging with an artificial uniform must strain the body in a different way."
"Wait. So how does that make her heal differently? We've sliced through plenty of life fibers and Goku uniforms before and they never stitched themselves up."
"I don't know Ryuko. These are just my thoughts, my own speculation. However, if she is truly fused with Junketsu, with a Kamui, then there must be a banshi. Just like any other uniform, if the banshi is severed-"
"Don't just write her off like another piece of clothing to cut though!" Ryuko fired back emotionally.
"Ryuko. Before, you said that I wasn't something that was made to kill my own kind. I'm not telling you to cut Satsuki down like some bit of cloth, but to sever the ties that bind her. Your sister doesn't deserve to meet her end like Ragyo, but she also doesn't deserve to deal with the fate of killing everyone she worked so hard to protect!"
Ryuko's eyes widened, stunned from her partner's words. As Satsuki's next attack came, she guarded against it using both arms, having recovered somewhat from her injury. With a scowl marking her face, the smaller girl couldn't bring herself to look at her opponent in the eyes as they stood deadlocked once again. Frustration wracked Ryuko's mind as she reflected on Senketsu's words, "Even after everything she's done and asked me, am I still really this weak?"
"This will be the last…"
Ryuko looked up, meeting Satsuki's gaze at the sound of her shaky, coarse voice. The words she heard filled her with mixture of relief and nervous dread, signalling the beginning of the end. Before, time felt like it had stopped right before the brink; now, it resumed with along with its consequences. Using all the strength she could muster, Ryuko pushed away with her scissor blade, forcing back her opponent. Taking several more steps backwards, Satsuki widened the gap between her opponent in preparation for a final charge. Using the distance she built for herself, she quickly dashed before taking a mighty leap into the air.
Ryuko had little time to think as she saw Satsuki leap into the air. Setting her mind into overdrive, she began to decipher the location of the supposed banshi. Her eyes snapped wide open at the realisation before bringing her blade to shoulder height, ready to perform one final upward thrust. As she saw Satsuki approach closer, Ryuko waited for the last possible moment. As it came, she took a quick step forward, throwing off the timing of the oncoming attack. Having been evaded, Satsuki ungracefully crashed chest first into the red rending scissor. With the momentum from her leap, she quickly found herself impaled all the way down to the top of the blade handle. As her body came to an abrupt stop, inertia sent her arms over her sister's back. With Satsuki's feet barely touching the floor and her arms hanging limply, her body was devoid of power.
Ryuko clenched her teeth, doing her best to rein in the sadness that began to take over her body. Focusing her gaze over Satsuki's shoulder, she let her guard down knowing the fight finally was over. Thinking back it was obvious where the banshi would most likely be; the human heart. The weight of the sadness fully sunk in for Ryuko as she felt Satsuki's arms tighten around her neck, embracing her ever so slightly. Without a thought, she let go of her scissor blade to tightly wrap her arms around the older girl's waist, returning her embrace. Slowly, she began to lower Satsuki to the floor, allowing her to sit and lean back as comfortably as she could. As she leant back, Ryuko met her sister's gaze for the first time in what she felt like was an eternity.
"Ryuko…" Satsuki whispered softly with a slight smile. "Sorry for taking so long to wake up…"
"Don't be," replied Ryuko as firm as she could. Tears began to flow freely from Ryuko's eyes when she heard the older girl speak freely without sounding strained. "I'm glad to hear your voice again."
"Sorry for being so cold. I wish we could've met in better circumstances."
"Don't be…"
"Ryuko…it's not over yet…"
The younger girl's eyes widened at Satsuki's words. "What do you mean? I did it, didn't I?"
"You haven't cut it completely. The banshi isn't fully severed, just frayed…"
"No…" Ryuko cried meekly. "This…this is just too…too much…"
"I'm sorry Ryuko," the older girl apologised. Reaching out with her hand, Satsuki cupped the crying girl's cheek, wiping away several tears away with her slender thumb. "I'm sorry for everything I've put you through. Maybe it would've been better if we never met."
"Don't…don't say that."
"I shouldn't have asked any more of you."
"Any more what?"
"Forgive me Ryuko, one last time…" Satsuki trailed off. Dropping the hand that had cupped her sister's cheek, she gripped the red scissor blade embedded in her chest. With all the strength she had left, she gave it a hard twist, "…Sen'i soshitsu…"
Ryuko could only watch as the scissor blade twisted. Seeing the light beginning to fade from Satsuki's eyes, she saw the white Kamui that covered the older girl's body begin to melt and fade away into her skin, leaving her naked as the day she was born. Her thoughts scrambled at what had just happened. She had been ready to fight and to survive but she never had to time to think about saying goodbye. Clasping Satsuki's hand, she said anything that came to her mind.
"I'm sorry Satsuki! I'm sorry for everything! I'm sorry for being so uncooperative, for being ungrateful, for hating you, for fighting you for so long. I'm sorry for being such a bad sister!" Ryuko screamed in tears.
"Ryuu…"
"Satsuki! Please…please don't leave me. Please don't die. I love you Satsuki! I'll always will…"
"I…will…ll…w…"
As her last words faded, all Ryuko could do was bury her head in Satsuki's chest and mourn.
Author's Notes:
The last 1500 or so words were actually quite difficult to write. Before, I thought I was quite decent at writing dialogue but I have realised that I am actually pretty mediocre at it. I'm sure if I re-watched Kill La Kill several more times, I could've researched each character's dialogue, tone and nuances much better. That's the price of trying to gun for 1 chapter a week I guess.
So yeah, Satsuki died. If you were hoping for some Ryuko x Satsuki; sorry I guess. But don't worry, there's some silver lining in the next chapter.
Edit: 29/03/14
I kinda messed up a little bit at the end and made Satsuki say too much. Also, for those who haven't noticed, I've changed the story summary to better reflect the setting. Chapter 4 won't be out for another week after which I'll be taking a hiatus on writing.
The the last episode airing, I'll be rethinking my storyboard of Chapter 5.